Skip to main content

War MemorialsRegister

Home
Search Memorials
Search Names
Help

Imperial War Museums home

About
Legal
- Accessibility Statement
- Cookies
- Copyright
- Privacy
- Terms of use

© Imperial War Museums 2026

Memorial

Leicester Arch of Remembrance

2225.jpg

1/5

Current Location

Victoria Park, Lancaster Gate, Leicester, Leicester, Leicestershire, LE1 7RH, England

OS Grid Reference

SK 59561 03214

View location on Google Maps

Contribute to the War Memorials Register

Send us details and photographs of your local war memorials, to help enhance the information about the people, places and events they commemorate.

This record shows everything IWM currently knows about this memorial. We are continually updating our records.

© WMR-2225

To share information or photographs, contact us.

Type of Memorial: Arch
WMR Reference Number: 2225
Description: Triumphal arch. Large square monumental arch stepped at top and crowned with shallow dome. Coffered barrel-vault through with lower crossing vault. Four stone flags inside: the Union Flag and those of the three Armed Services. Whole is enclosed by railings and stone piers (see file for full description) Surrounding railings and rusticated gate piers with urns forming a circle. Underneath the arches hang carved and painted stone flags. Gates have been built on the two main approaches to it.
Inscription: (Front face over arch): MCM XIV MCM XIX / GLORY TO GOD IN THE HIGHEST AND ON EARTH PEACE (Front face on the piers): MCM XXXIX MCM XLV (Left face): REMEMBER IN GRATITUDE TWELVE THOUSAND MEN/ OF THIS CITY AND COUNTY/ WHO FOUGHT AND DIED FOR FREEDOM./ REMEMBER ALL WHO SERVED AND STROVE/ AND THOSE WHO PATIENTLY ENDURED (Rear face): ALL THEY HOPED FOR, ALL THEY HAD, THEY GAVE/ TO SAVE MANKIND THEMSELVES THEY SCORNED TO SAVE (Right face): I WILL NOT CEASE FROM MENTAL FIGHT/ NOR SHALL MY SWORD SLEEP IN MY HAND/ TILL WE HAVE BUILT JERUSALEM/ IN ENGLAND'S GREEN AND PLEASANT LAND

War: First World War (1914-1918)

Maker(s): SIR EDWIN LUTYENS, Architect
Messrs Holloway (cf Southampton), Builder
Costs: £22,700
Sponsor Type: public
Maintenance History: Arch: GradeI listed (revised from Grade II* 21 June 1996); Lodges and gates onto London Rd: Grade II* listed; Gates and gate piers onto University Rd: Grade II* listed (revised from Grade II 21 June 1996. Final memorial was a revised version as insufficient funds had been raised for the original design. See file for full history of memorial.

Ceremonies

Unveiled

4 July 1925

Mrs Elizabeth Ann Butler; Mrs Annie Elizabeth Glover

Dedicated

4 July 1925

Bishop of Peterborough

Custodian: Leicester City Council

Components

Arch

Height: 20730mm

Width: 13410mm

Depth: 1250mm

Made from: Stone - Portland

Condition: Good

Historic England

Grade: I

List Entry: 1074786

The Times 6 July 1925 p.11
Carter Postcard Collection
Leicester Mercury 25th November 2009.
L. P. Jenkins, The Form and Order of the Unveiling Ceremony of the Arch of Remembrance (Leicester, 1925)
Lutyens and the Great War by Tim Skelton & Gerald Gliddon p.170 Published:Francis Lincoln Ltd 2008, Nov London Unveiled by Mrs Elizabeth Butler ( a bereaved mother who lost four sons killed, and two wounded). Built by Messrs Holloway.
The Arch of Remembrance - The Order of the Ceremony (with description, illustrations, etc.) IWM Library
"The Arch of Remembrance." Historic England, https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1074786. Accessed 8 October 2024.